All these clothes really add up. Do I need to buy new shoes already? My kids haven’t worn actual shoes since Memorial Day weekend. It’s been a flip flop summer.

Sports physicals and new equipment again? I thought we bought new cleats in the spring. They already outgrew them???

Vaccinations – there seems to be so many more today than I ever remembered. Is this all really necessary?

I’m really hoping my kids will be happy with their teachers! I pray this teacher’s heart aligns with my daughter’s. I hope my son’s teacher is FUN. How can I best serve with this new teacher?

How is all this homework going to affect our family time at night? Ahhh common core. I miss good old multiplication tables!

Brushing up on my long division because the kids might need help from me this year. Yikes! Do I look like a cheater if I check our work with the calculator on my iphone?

Are my kids going to make better friends this year? What new influences do I need to be proactive about? How do I challenge my kids to make better choices in who they spend their time with?

Who’s going to influence my kids this year? The teacher? The coach? The youth pastor? The cousins? The friends? The TV? What role do I play in shaping all that? Let’s reset our plan so spiritual growth doesn’t get eclipsed by the common core homework, soccer practice and PTA meetings.

Have any of my son’s friends changed over the summer?

Hopefully my kid’s wont’ realize last year’s clothes are already out of style at this middle school. Lord give me a few months please!

What can I do to help my kids make better choices regarding friends? Is that even possible? How do we as a family define what a “great friend” actually is? How is emotional maturity building into my child’s friendships? this year?

Keeping everyone on schedule. We have to be regimented again! OH NO! or OH YES! Finally some order to our crazy life!

Waking up on time, meals on time, making lunches and keeping cash for lunch money. What’s our plan B if we forget our child’s lunch?

What are the schools going to teach my kids this year that I don’t really agree with? (How am I going to be proactive about new agendas?) How will our family lay a foundation to address the tough social issues that don’t line up with our family values? Do I need to get to my kids before the teacher does? Or should I just respond when the problems arise? ( I need to get my kids thinking about what a Christ centered worldview is!)

Cell phones in school. How will I take control over the phone use & screen time before it becomes a problem?

Is it safe for my kids to ride the bus? What’s my big fear about the bus – is it my child’s ability/emotions or is it me/mine?

How can I make my kid’s lunches more nutritious? Do they trade what I give them anyway?

Is my kid’s cell phone charged? (Should I buy a couple of those external chargers on Amazon so they can’t use the excuse that their phone was dead when I needed to get a hold of them after school?)

Time to hit up Costco and load up on breakfast stuff. My kids haven’t eaten before 10am all summer! My grocery bill just went WAY up now that we’ve added breakfast back into the mix!

Is there going to be enough support staff at school to keep my kids safe? (Gangs/security/terrorism/bullys/after school activities) I’d love to know more about how our school staff is being trained to protect our kids!

How do I filter all the propaganda being fed to my kids? (the Bible says “Where sin abounds, grace abounds so much more”) How do I focus on hope over fear this year?

What’s the plan this year if/when one of our children get sick? (Working parent’s dilemma) I better start praying for some carpool buddies in our neighborhood!

Why do my kids want to wear their new long sleeve shirts during the first weeks of school? – It’s 100 degrees outside!

How are we going to get our kids plugged into church this year? How do we get them interested in making more church friends? I want to carve out some margin in our family schedule so church/youth group doesn’t get eclipsed by our schedule/homework/sports.

Are the schools spending too much teaching time on bullying and not enough time on academics? I fear the bully card sometimes eclipses teaching our kids about actually dealing with conflict.

I have to wake up an hour earlier so I can take the kids to school and still get off to work! What am I doing to build into my spiritual health so I can start the day with hope?

As the fall schedules starts, it always affects our childcare schedule. (What am I going to do after school? How will this affect our family budget?)

With all the homework, I have to monitor my kid’s screen time on the pc/mac/ipad/laptop. What’s a realistic screen time limit in 2017?

Better upgrade our family texting & data plan when the kids go back to school! Yikes. Our kids don’t make many calls. Just texting and data eating up our family plan!

Summer AC bill is more than my car payment! Looking forward to a change! What new expenses have I not planned for this fall?

Skinny jeans. Stripes. Vans. Retro colors. Chucks. Flannel. Are those still in style cause we stocked up last year?

New shoes. New backpacks. Activity/sports fees. New organization plans. New line items for our family budget!

I remember picking out a new trapper keeper or destroying the one from last year so I could ask for a new one. Don’t pretend like you’ve never done anything like that!

What memories will my kids make this year that will last a lifetime? Will this be the year that they make those life long friends?

New routes to work so I can avoid the slow school zones! Don’t even get me started on the selfish drivers in the pick up line at school.

Are my kids going to complain about school this year? Is there anything I can do as a parent to help them transition better? How can i help them start strong with a great attitude?

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